* The unofficialtranslation andIntroductory Note were prepared for International Legal Materials by Zbigniew M. Slupinski, Wilmer, Cutlet & Pickering, Washington, D.C. The official Polish text appears in Dziennik Ustaw, No. 51, item 298 (1990).

1/ The term “spòlka” (“company“) used by the authors of the Law on Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises is a collective name for both of the two generic types of business forms (partnerships and corporations) that are authorized under Polish law. There are three types of “companies” governed by the Commercial Code. The three “companies” are: “registered partnership,” “limited liability company,” and “joint stock company.” The first, the “registered partnership” does not provide for the limited liability of partners. The two others (the “limited liability company” and the “joint stock company“) are legal vehicles that provide limited liability to their shareholders. From the text of the Privatization Law, it may be concluded that when this law talks about the transformation of state-owned enterprises into “companies,” it means only these two forms. Therefore the author will use the term “corporation” when the law refers to such companies without indicating limited liability company or to joint stock company. When the Privatization Law refers explicitly to limited liability company or to joint stock company, these terms will be used by the author.

2/ The lower chamber of the Polish Parliament.

3/ ’ The term “kontraktacja” means a sale of future agricultural products.